Union mom accused of neglect after leaving baby in car outside store

A Union mom who was in a grocery store for about 15 minutes, leaving her 16-month-old alone in her truck, was arrested on Wednesday, according to police.

Union police were called to the Fresh Air Galaxy store on East Main Street about 12:40 p.m. about a child left alone in a car.

According to the police report, when officers arrived, the vehicle had already left but was located at a nearby gas station and brought back to the store.

The report stated the mother, identified as 31-year-old Crystal Nave, admitted she pulled in by the store's exit at the front, left the pickup truck running with the air on and parked in front of cameras before going inside. According to warrants, the truck was also left unlocked.

A witness told officers he saw the child in the car and went to the Dollar Store to have the clerk call 911. The report said the man saw Nave get out of the truck at 12:29 p.m. and come back out at 12:45 p.m. Another witness told police they saw Nave inside the store for about 15 minutes, according to the report.

When they spoke with Nave, she told them she thought her child was safe because police ride through the parking lot all the time.

According to the report, officers told her she had been in the store for more than five minutes. Nave said it may have been 10 minutes, and said she could see her truck from the store's front office's camera monitor and would have seen if someone tried to take her truck, police said.

Police said it was not possible to see camera in the office from where Nave was standing. The report said video surveillance was unavailable.

The report said when officers tried to explain the severity of the issue, they asked Nave what would have happened if someone had tried to steal the truck and she replied "a radar would go off and police would come."

A relative was called to come pick up the child and the Department of Social Services was notified, police said. Nave was arrested and charged with child neglect.

A two year old is alive after a near drowning at an Upstate swimming pool. And it's all thanks to the first person who arrived on scene to help, who just happened to be a local fire chief and trained EMT.

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